Tamale Pie

I love this Tamale Pie! I love the sweet buttermilk cornbread topping. I love the savory filling. I love the speed with which the pie comes together (just 30 minutes from start to finish). Hungry? Make the pie for dinner tonight.

Earlier this week, because many of you requested it, I filmed the video recipe for you. And I included in the video my neat trick for dicing an onion the easy-peasy way. Click the “play” arrow to watch. (Or, just scroll down for the photographic recipe.)

Thanks for watching! As you probably noticed, Tiger the Cat provided an original soundtrack for the video. She’s a generous kitty.

And here, in case you can’t watch videos, is the recipe in photographic steps:

First, center the oven rack, and heat the oven to 450°F.

Then grab a medium onion…

And dice it.

Also, coarsely chop some cilantro — about 2 tablespoon’s worth.

There. Our knife work is complete. Let’s open a couple of cans!

Take a 15.5 ounce can of black beans, and drain and rinse the beans in a colander.

Then open a 14.5 can of diced tomatoes, and drain off the juice.

Onto the stove!

Over medium heat, warm some vegetable oil in a large skillet.

Then add the diced onion…

1 tablespoon of chili powder…

1 teaspoon of cumin…

1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper…

1 teaspoon of garlic powder…

And a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Stir everything together, and then let the onions cook until tender — about 5 minutes.

Then add 1 pound of ground sirloin (we want a low-fat meat here; ground turkey breast would work as well).

Also add the black beans…

And the tomatoes.

As the meat browns, break it up with a wooden spoon or a heat-proof spatula.

Then let the mixture simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated — about 5 minutes.

Off heat, stir in 1 cup of finely-shredded sharp cheddar cheese…

And the aforementioned cilantro.

You could very well bake this pie in the skillet, providing that said skillet is oven proof. But for a much nicer presentation…

Take a pie plate, and put it on a baking sheet. As I mentioned in the video, my plate is 2 inches deep and 9 inches across.

Tip the filling into the pie plate, and smooth the top with a spatula.

Onto the crust!

In a medium bowl, add 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour (or, use a gluten-free flour substitute — I’ve had good success with King Arthur’s “Measure for Measure” gluten-free flour).

To the flour, add 3/4 cup of ordinary cornmeal…

3 tablespoons of sugar…

3/4 teaspoon baking soda…

3/4 teaspoon baking powder…

And a pinch of salt.

Violently whisk these dry ingredients together.

In another bowl (or in a 2-cup glass measure as shown), add 3/4 cup real buttermilk.

Add one large egg to the buttermilk…

And whisk them together.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry…

And stir to combine.

Spoon big dollops of the cornbread batter over the pie filling…

And then smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake, on the baking sheet, until the crust colors slightly — 10-15 minutes. Let the pie cool for at least 10 minutes on a wire rack.

Then dig right in!

I love this pie so much that I made in 3 times last week, and two times this week. Yes, it’s THAT delicious!

Tamale Pie is one of my go-to dishes. The pie's savory filling contrasts nicely with its semi-sweet buttermilk cornbread crust. The entire recipe takes just 30 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients

For the filling

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder (or to taste)

Pinch of salt and grinds of black pepper

1 pound ground sirloin (or ground turkey breast)

1 15.5 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, well drained

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons coarsely-chopped cilantro

For the Crust:

3/4 cup all-purpose ("plain") flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

3 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Big pinch of salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

Instructions

Center the oven rack; heat the oven to 450°F.

The filling -- Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Let the onions cook until tender -- about 5 minutes. Then add the ground meat, beans and tomatoes, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula as it browns. Simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated -- about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in the cheese until it melts. Then stir in the cilantro. Tip the filling into a 2-inch deep X 9-inch wide pie plate (see note below).

The crust -- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl (or 2-cup glass measure), whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, and stir with a spoon to combine. Spoon large dollops of the cornmeal batter over the pie filling, and then smooth the top with the back of the spoon.

Bake, on a baking sheet, until the crust colors slightly -- 10-15 minutes. Transfer the pie to a wire rack, and let it cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

A NOTE FOR THE GLUTEN-INTOLERANT: I once substituted King Arthur's gluten-free "Measure for Measure Flour" for the wheat flour in the crust. The crust was perfectly acceptable.

A NOTE ABOUT SKILLET BAKING: No 2-inch-deep pie plate on hand? Cook the filling ingredients in an oven-proof skillet, top with the cornmeal batter, and bake the works directly in the skillet.

Comments

Keven
This looks great. I’ve been using a lot of TVP lately and I shall, this week, make this. Besides I have a taste for something with a Tex-Mex flare to it. Thanks for this and all your great cooking and gardening help
gene

Hi Kevin, I have the tamale pie in the oven as I type this, it sounded so yummy I had to make it right away. The written recipe calls for cayenne pepper but the photographic recipe calls for garlic powder. I went with the garlic powder as it’s more to my taste, not sure if it was intended to be one or the other both? Cheers!

Hi Dee – Thank you, printable is now fixed. I did use both cayenne pepper and garlic powder for this particular pie, but I’ve made other versions with just chili powder and garlic powder. So plenty of wiggle-room where seasonings are concerned. Do let me know how the pie turns out for you!!!

This looks good, Kevin. I would prefer making it with ground meat but
I’m going to give the suggestion from your reader a test-run to
substitute TVP for the meat.
I think my vegetarian friends might like
this.

Wow, this Tamale Pie must be yummy if you made it 5 times in one week, Kevin. You’ve convinced me to try it. Maybe I will make it with ground turkey and another time make it the vegetarian way. The crust on this pie looks to good, that I would want to eat the crust by itself = ) Can’t wait to try it both ways.

Hi. I had cornbread for the first time last week and found it rather sweet. We don’t generally have any sweet breads here in Australia, other than brioche, so I guess my tastebuds aren’t used to it. So following on from that, could you make the cornbread topping without any sweetener at all?

Yum this looks delicious! I’ll give it a go this week. Do you have any guess on whether the pie would freeze, if I wanted to try batch-assembling several? And would you recommend freezing it before or after baking off the cornbread topping? It seems like most of the ingredients would be freeze-tolerant, although I’m not sure how the buttermilk would react….

Monday routine: make whatever Kev published on Sunday! The tamale pie is so delicioso that I feel like building a wall around it and closing off the boarder (note intentional pun) so I can have it all.

Kevin,
Honestly, I linked to this video at 7:00 on Monday night. An hour ago I was hungry and didn’t know what to make for dinner. (I just put some au gratin potatoes in the oven.) I will definitely make this tomorrow. I don’t have any ground meat, I may try the TVP. Looks like it will please my husband and adult son!

The pie is in the oven. I had some leftover roast lamb that I ground up in the processor and used instead of burger. My taste test said it is going to be good. I cut the sugar in the topping to 1T. (the tomatoes already made it taste sweet to me. I enjoy all your posts. Thank you.

Kevin, I’ve made this twice now. Once with less cayenne for my granddaughters and once as written . Both were delicious! I’ve learned the hard way lately that just because someone has a recipe blog, it doesn’t mean that I will care for them! However, all of yours have been great!

2 questions tho – can you freeze this ? And what proportions would you use for a 9×13 pan to feed more?

This really is a winner! I’m making this for a potluck dinner. What do you think: make and bake ahead of time and then reheat or get it all set and bring to bake at the hosts’ house? Thanks for your advice, Kevin.